Whoever or wherever you are, all of us have the same expectation of wanting to be compensated for our work. Thereâs nothing wrong with wanting to get paid and truthfully itâs most peopleâs main motive to work.
Our time is our most precious asset and although every job is replaceable, we strive to be our biggest boss and market ourselves to let others believe we are unique.
No matter what skills you have what cannot be replaced is your personality, tenacity, patience, grit and soft skills.
When I first started looking for internships back in middle school, I was bombarded by various job sites from Indeed to Chegg and didnât know where to start.
What I heard from my upper-class colleagues is that recruiting/hiring is all a numbers game. The more firms you apply to, the more youâll hear back from but what is guaranteed is that you wonât hear back from a majority.
Great way to start my recruiting process but hey, at least I learned a lesson earlier on than later.
What you can control in the hiring process is limited.
These are the traits you can possess that will boost your chances of getting any position:
-First class: Referral or vouch for you
-Having a tailored resume for a certain job
-Doing your due diligence on a company
-Arriving on time and 10â15 minutes early, on a remote interview, at least 5 minutes to get set up with Wifi, appropriate background, etc.
-Good nightâs rest-look refreshed and excited to be there
-Positive, good character, empathetic, curious, honest that you arenât only a genius and able to connect with an open mind
-Timing of interview-before or after lunch-cranky mood-try to be the first or last interviewee for the day if you have the option for the time slot
-Have a speciality and stick with that-you are the CEO of your life-focus on your strengths
Whatâs not in your control:
-Who you are interviewing against-in one of several interviews I didnât get the job not because of my faults rather because I was competing against the hiring managerâs son
-Their mood or whatâs going on in their personal life
-Machine pooling out certain terms-algorithm for resume screening
Clearly, thereâs not a lot in your control but the most important thing you can do is to focus on your character, your attitude and being mindful about what you are saying.
Never interrupt the interviewers because everything you say will be held against you. Just like in court.
Top 5 Industries With Six-Figure Jobs
Since we discussed paycheck, if youâre looking for a juicy one, which isnât a problem unless it is the only reason why you have a job, then look no further than to finance and tech, the top contenders.
Since this is a financially literacy blog itâs important to be aware of all the benefits of not relying on a job.
Financial freedom is defined by making enough passive income to rely on it and supplement your full-time job.
When you carry no debt and can rely on your money to work for you not against you, thatâs true freedom. You donât rob your time and can enjoy life on your own terms.
Thatâs the best type of freedom but unfortunately when you graduate from school, the easiest way to earn the most money in a short amount of time is to get a job unless youâre coding all night in your dorm ready to launch the next Facebook.
When you are young, you have the most energy, willingness to learn, make mistakes since you have no dependents and all the power to you straight out of school.
You have peak energy and grit that wonât last forever.
Plus a 9â5 job is a good reason to support/prove the worth of your degree after spending $50k+ on school and 4 years might as well get a job while earning passive income or having a business on the side.
Yet as with any 9â5 corporate job, brings about issues most notably:
-Taxes taking a decent chunk out of your paycheck
-Your paycheck only goes so far-your boss determines what youâre worth
-Robs your time, health and family sometimes
-Burnout and workaholism are real
-Less family and self-help time
-No one is replaceable
-The average graduate takes on 3â5 jobs in the first 5 years stuck and confused-mid life crisis approaching
Chances
We all have our own definition of success. It may include getting a fat salary or that fancy title but what is guaranteed is that your fulfillment cannot be derived from money.
Money doesnât make you any happier. Happiness leads to success not the reverse.
You can read about how itâs achieved here.
After a certain income, $75k to be exact, your happiness will plateau. Sure youâll get elated after purchasing that shiny new car, but after a few weeks or even few days, it wonât make you feel like a better person after all if your health, relationships and internal world arenât well.
Whether youâre a graduate or an MD with 30 years of experience, you need a game plan and purpose.
If thereâs no purpose, donât expect to be anywhere for long.
High or Low
Whether you are a bad student or the brightest Valedictorian with the highest GPA at the top school, your odds are a bit mixed.
Obviously you would assume that someone with better grades competing for the same internship with a kid with worse marks would make it farther yet more often than not, soft skills over hard skills are being more heavily weighted by firms these days because when youâre working at a company, 8â10 hours per day, if you have to be surrounded by lazy arrogant geniuses, that isnât going to make your life or the company any easier/better.
You live with your colleagues in some professions more than with your regular family so feeling supported and being human is crucial.
Anyone can learn Excel and Python.
Now that youâve put on your character hat and know how to best stand out, letâs investigate the highest paying industries that often pay 6 figures within 3 years out of undergrad or graduate school.
You can investigate if HS, associateâs, graduate or masters degree is worth it here.
Highest Paying Professions
Investment Banking
Management/strategic consulting
High Tech
Venture capital/entrepreneurship/startup landscape
If youâre really motivated to make a lot and rise up to the ranks before 30, I would suggest apply to the top 10 companies in these industries and make sure you understand your WHY between each because the websites look the same.
For example:
Investment Banking: Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Barclays, Bank of America, etc.
Strategic Consulting: Bain, BCG, McKinsey, A.T. Kearney, Deloitte, Arthur D. Little, etc.
Tech/Software: Google, eBay, Dropbox, Quora, Uber, Slack, Pinterest, Netflix. Apple, Oracle, Salesforce, Microsoft, Paypal, AirbnB, etc.
Venture Capital: Future Founders, YC, Benchmark, Accel, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Sequoia, etc.
Yet with some of these companies, having lower acceptance rates than Harvard, you only have so much control as discussed above so keep your options open and donât associate your self worth with rejection.
Plus, if you get rejected, it shouldnât matter! Just invest in that company instead and let them make money for you instead of working for them!
Whether you want to work in finance, technology or at a startup is your choice and you can learn why startups in particular are the riskiest financially and professionally here.
Overlooked Six-Figure Industries
Real Estate: Taking care of tenants can be a full time job especially if you manage a whole community of buildings. As a real estate agent, although there are roughly 1.4 million of them in the US, only about 40% make over 1 million per year.
To increase your chances, work in high profitable taxed states such as New York and California where the average home price is near one million for a 1 bed.
As an agent, all you have to do to make one million per year in NY or in Florida, is to sell roughly $400k of real estate 6 times since brokerage deal, sales, advertising, marketing tax and all the other expenses eat up into your commission.
Computer & Movie Animation/Music: Pixar Studios or Blizzard
Government: Nancy Pelosi is reportedly worth a couple hundred million and makes an average salary of $200k with lifelong pension. In addition, janitors, Navy, Army, the Air Force, prison guards and elevator technicians make over $270,000 a year.
IT Consulting/Accounting: Microsoft, Salesforce, KPMG, Ernst & Young, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Deloitte, etc.
Engineering: Mechanical engineering, Electrical engineering, Software engineering, Structural engineering. Highest paying starting salaries and that can lead ot various other jobs in tech, software, research, etc.
Police Officers and Firefighters: Cops and firefighters with a couple year of experience can earn a couple million per year along with the additional bonus of lifelong pensions that companies donât offer once you leave. Teachers also can receive tenure.
Health Care: Doctors, Physician Assistants, Hospital Administrators, Nurse Practitioners, etc.
Oil, Mining, Commodities Trading: Vitol Group, BHP Billington, Glencore International, Cargill Group, Koch Industries, etc.
Alternative Routes:
-Staring a company seems to be popular these days although most people donât have the grit to deal with a non-recurring paycheck, being alone and lack of direction
-Lastly, you can always marrying someone for money. Sometimes it works out, most of the time not especially since 80% of marriages end up going through divorce.
Beware
Startups are very risky since 98% of them fail.
Majority of startups are in the tech space due to this innovative environment we are living in these days. Most tech startups donât pay well but do offer stock options to become a majority shareholder than just a public investor.
Working for any big bank or tech firm will pay the best because they are established and donât need to worry about laying off workers due to a pandemic when thereâs a decent cash cushion in place and endless amount of debt they can just borrow for leverage in times of crises.
Yet be wary of longer hours. Make sure you are getting compensated for it since at startups in particular thereâs no rigid plan and you can easily be working for double what you signed up for.
If you want to stay comfortable with a job, working in banking at a top firm is key yet may not last so long. Many of the banks raised base salaries by 60% or so after the financial crisis and it will pay off but it can get tiring after a few decades when most pivot out.
Best Advice
Working for anyone is risky because they control what you do, when you do it and no job unfortunately is 100% stable.
If you want independence, are motivated on your own, can deal with uncertain pay but want to be able to spend more time with family and have that work life balance you always craved, I would suggest becoming familiar with the passive income generation mindset.
You donât have to be an entrepreneur either. Most people whoâve ended up working for themselves started when they had a job and a side hustle on the side.
Age isnât a barrier, your mindset is.
Reversed Circumstances
If you stick to working at one of these firms for a good 5â10 years, no doubt youâll become a millionaire if youâre strategic and save. Once again, itâs not about how much you make, rather how much you earn. If youâre busting out into the club ordering drinks and high every night, your paycheck is worthless.
But what if you donât get the chance to work in these fields?
They either donât speak to you or you were a bad, unlucky student?
We neglect the regular jobs that pay really decent as well.
For example an electrical technician job makes over $280k per year!
Part of being rich, is understanding and designing your opportunities. Not waiting for someone to tell you what to do.
School wonât make you a six-figure salary. You just canât go to business school and expect to get where you want to go right away.
Design your life on what you want. You deserve everything you put your mind to. Remember, there are those who are less qualified than you and got what you wanted due to grit and unwavering commitment.
Trying requires no skill only effort. Never fail due to a lack of effort.
It all lies in making a brave choice.